Sounds like you have a good idea of how to start, Terry. Yes, level off you soil. I'm sure you're is nice and rich and good soil for growing grass so I do not think you need to do anything other than using a little Starter Fertilizer to give it a healthy start. It's very important when you're starting a new area of lawn to make sure you water the seed lightly at least twice a day do keep the seeds moist. You can use straw to help with that but then you're going to have a lot of weeds. If it's a small area, you can lightly rake the area after seeding to turn the soil over a bit which will help keep the seeds moist.
Let it get good and healthy and develop deep roots this Spring and Summer. Given it will be young, you may need to water it during any dry spells this summer. Give it a dose of Scott's Summerguard fertilizer in June or July.
Once it's healthy and deep rooted, then you can start the routine of weed control, fertilizing (once established, I would go to Milorganite 3-6 times per year), keeping the pH balanced between 6 and 7, with the use of lime to raise it, granular sulfur to lower it - unless you are lucky to have soil that is already between 6-7 pH and stays there. And if you really want to be a fanatic like me, have it aerated and overseed it each fall.
Weed control is the toughest part... if you aren't adverse to using chemicals, it's not as hard though. Once a year with a spray of Weed-B-Gon and most of your troubles are solved. You may have to fight some occasional crabgrass but the Weed-B-Gon will take care of everything else. If you don't like to use any chemicals, pouring boiling water on the weed kills a good many of them. The rest you can pull by hand.
If you ever need help, I'm not far away and would be glad to come take a look and give advice.
